Three friends in Portsmouth have launched a scheme to leave free tampons and pads in the toilets of local schools as calls for free sanitary protection for girls grow.

The Red Box Project is a community driven initiative designed to ensure girls can access sanitary products throughout their period. It is the brainchild of Anna Miles, a teacher, Jo Willoughby, an artist, and Liesl Rose, a holistic therapist.

MPs have proposed providing free pads and tampons for girls who receive free school meals after it emerged some are skipping school or sellotaping socks to their knickers because they cannot afford sanitary protection. Thousands have signed petitions calling for sanitary products to be free in schools.

Free and discrete access to pads and tampons

The Red Box Project has been set up by three friends in Portsmouth

The Red Box Project does what it says on the tin: red boxes filled with pads and tampons and left with an appropriate female member of staff, allowing students to access them discreetly. This newspaper spoke to former students who said they had to ask a nurse or reception for a tampon if they were caught out, a service they said was implicitly only for emergencies.

The essence of the project is simple: women helping the younger women in their community, Ms Miles told i.

Ms Miles, 32, works at a private school in Portsmouth and was unaware girls are truanting or resorting to stuffing their knickers with tissue on their periods. “We had no idea that young women were facing this type of dilemma,” she said.

“I have friends who work in schools around particular areas of Portsmouth that are deprived. Poverty is a real issue in Portsmouth. Speaking to them, [it became clear] there was a real issue with accessing free sanitary wear as well.

“Some teachers just told them they run out very quickly. So our scheme is about having a constant supply that they can access.”

They have been “overwhelmed” by the response since launching three weeks ago, she added.

Anna Miles has set up the Red Box Project with her friends Jo Willoughby and Liesl Rose

The Red Box project is now running in two schools in Portsmouth. Ten women have asked to launch red boxes in their own schools.

The Red Box Project provides everything for each woman to start their scheme. Each woman then organises fundraisers within their own communities to sponsor their boxes.

A contact number is left half-way down each box. Once supplies reach this level, the school rings the number and the box is restocked within 48 hours.

“But we will also be on hand,” Ms Miles added. “So if there is ever an issue and they are not able to fundraise to get enough sanitary wear or items, we will top it up with what we have and what we fundraise and support them in that way. It’s community driven.”

The initiative is about to reach other cities in England. “We have a lady in Bristol, one in Brighton and another lady in Leeds. A lady in America has also contacted us and is starting her own project over there as well. Every day we are getting more and more people asking if they can set them up.”

Between 12 and 15 schools are expected to have Red Boxes introduced into toilets within the next month. In the future, the boxes will also come complete with underwear. The Red Box Project will begin collecting feedback on the success of the scheme within the next four weeks.

Getting rid of the stigma around periods

(Photo: Getty Images)

The issue for young girls struggling to access sanitary wear is two-fold, says Ms Miles. “The expense of sanitary wear on the weekly budget of spending, so it’s not always a priority, and also embarrassment. I think girls feel embarrassed sometimes to ask for help, so they look for other ways to remedy the situation which isn’t always ideal. Often it’s staying at home. For me, it’s a priority they should be in school.”

The second stage of their project will be tackling the stigma around periods that can leave school girls feeling too embarrassed to ask for help.

” The teachers we have spoken to have been amazing. They are going out of their way to get money for sanitary wear needed.

“The word ‘stigma’ has come up a few times when we have spoken to people. The embarrassment thing is the next thing we want to tackle.

“The first thing to focus on is making sure the boxes are fully stocked and in schools and the next step would be providing some sort of education aspect to the project.”

This could include working with teachers to provide woman-led PSHE lessons to young women in schools, she said.

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